The Wilting Rose
by Love7thheaven
Summary: A sequel to my first story My Version of Highway to Cell. Rose doesn't like someone telling her what she can and can't have, and while this is happening will something happen for Sandy and Simon, and a little something for Ruthie and Martin as well? Only


_Hi everyone! I can't tell you how sorry I am for not updating this story in such a long time...there's been a lot going on here lately and I haven't found much time to be able to do much or write as much as I'd like to. This is just an updated editedversion of this story, later this week I hope to have the second chapter up. Again, I am so sorry it took so long :( Aww, and thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews and D. Torres, always amazingly helpful...thank you again! _

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Rose pulled dark sunglasses from the visor of her father's 2006 Chevy Cobalt and slid them on with shaky fingers, fluffing her dark hair to disguise her face as Simon pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex. His blond hair ruffled in the breeze as he juggled his four heavily laden groceries bags in his arms, his keys clenched tightly in his teeth. 

Rose ached to run her hands through his hair as she had up to recently and she vowed that she would again, very soon, no matter how long it took her. Gasping, she slid down in her seat as Simon turned his head in her direction. He gazed around him, the prickling sense of being watched causing the little hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. A few cars were parked across the street, each one seemingly deserted. He shook his head trying to shake off the little warning bells clanging in his mind and struggled up the steep steps to his apartment.

Letting go of a huge whoosh of breath she wasn't aware she had been holding in, Rose struggled back into a sitting position and clicked open her cell phone, speed dialling Simon's apartment.

"Damn. Hold on, I'm coming," he gasped, struggling to catch his breath as he squeezed through the screen door, dropping his bags onto his kitchen table.

He stumbled as one of the bags ripped, oranges and cans of pop rolling onto the floor and under his feet. Without looking at the caller ID he snatched up the receiver and fumbled with the buttons clumsily.

"Hello?" nothing but silence.

"Is anyone there?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow questioningly.

Rose clasped her free hand over her mouth to cover a cry escaping from her throat.

"Hello?" frustration laced his features, sarcasm adding a bite to his words. "Look, who ever you are, I know your there, I can hear you breathing."

"Simon? Wait, don't hang up the phone…" she cried when she heard him swear.

"Rose what do you want? I thought we talked about everything that we needed to. You're the one that told me you didn't want to talk to me anymore. Promises promises..."

She gritted her teeth as all of her tender feelings fled and ripped her sunglasses off, strands of her hair painfully getting caught in the arm of the glasses. "I know what I said, but I was wrong. We belong together and I think we should sit down and discuss it like adults. We can make it work, I know we can."

Running a weary hand through his hair, Simon fell back onto the dark burgundy couch and gazed around his apartment. His eyes settled on a picture of the two of them smiling at the camera on the small desk where his phone and computer were resting, a small framed one beside that of him and Sandy making goofy faces seemed to glow with a life of its own. He smiled at the memory, his mind drifting to the summer before when they had gone to the fair and spent the whole day riding the merry-go-round like kids and stuffing themselves on candy apples and cotton candy. He couldn't remember where Rose had been that day, only that it had been one of the best days of his life.

"SIMON," she shrieked after calling his name for a few moments and getting no response.

Startled, he dropped the phone on the floor and accidentally stepped on it when he scooted off the couch. As if by some miracle, somehow he had managed to click the talk button without realizing it, causing the call to end and the phone to buzz on Rose's end.

"Ahhh…" she yelled and tossed her cell phone into the backseat in frustration.

Simon scooped the receiver up and held it to his ear. "Hello?" hearing nothing on the other end, he shrugged and walked over to his desk and picked up the picture of him and Sandy. Without even realizing what he was doing he dialled Sandy's number and waited patiently for her to pick up.

"Hello?" a voice called over a wailing baby's cry.

"Sandy?"

"Simon, is that you? Just one second, Aaron is fussing."

He smiled to himself when he heard a soft lullaby being crooned to the baby. The rustling of some material and the sweet tinkling strings of Hush Now Don't You Cry carried to Simon's ear. Gathering the runaway groceries, he packed the fridge and cupboards as he waited.

"Sorry about that. Aaron is starting to teethe, poor little guy has been suffering all day and the ointment that's supposed to soothe them isn't helping any." She gazed lovingly down sat her son, tucking a light blanket around him in bassinet as he sucked nosily on his knuckles and fought to keep his eyes open, tiny tears twinkling in his downy lashes.

"Have you tried one of his teething rings?" he asked, trying to be helpful.

Sandy sighed in weariness and grabbed several receiving blankets and face cloths off the couch, dumping them in a basket shaped like a frog just inside the bathroom door. "I have tried just about everything, nothing seems to be working. I wish there something more I could do for him, I hate seeing him in pain like that."

"Why don't you have Martin watch him for a while and I'll pick you up for some lunch, give you a breather. Even if it's just for a half an hour."

Simon began to pace back and forth in front of his kitchen window as he waited for Sandy's answer, his shadowy movements causing Rose, who was still across the street in her car, to stop her angry conversation with herself and peer closer up at his apartment.

"I don't know Simon," she finally answered, "I don't want to leave Aaron when he's like this. What if he needs me? Or Martin can't figure out what he needs? What if…?"

He smiled tenderly at her concern. "Aaron and Martin will be just fine. He's been left alone with him before and been fine right?"

Sandy bit her bottom lip in indecision and looked back at her son whose soft breathing and closed eyes reassured her that he had finally fallen asleep. Rolling her shoulders to release the tension that had gathered there, she closed her eyes momentarily and then smiled.

"All right, you have me there. What time were you thinking about for lunch?"

Simon pumped a fist in victory, covering his mouth with his hand when his excitement squeaked out when he tried speaking. He cleared his throat and struck a casual pose. "How about in a half an hour? That'll give you time to call Martin and do whatever you need to do."

Stumbling over wooden blocks and toys in a rush to get to her bedroom, Sandy gazed into her mirror above her dresser and pulled her brush through her hair and squirted her favourite perfume in the air, letting it settle over her in a little cloud.

"Sandy?" came Simon's muffled voice from the phone she had laid on her bed a few seconds before.

Sandy's eyes widened in embarrassment and grinned sheepishly as she fumbled with the phone to her ear. "I'm here. That sounds great Simon, so I'll see you in a half an hour then."

Simon hung up the phone with a satisfied look on his face and then frowned as his eyes rested on the picture of him and Rose. Grabbing his keys, he picked the frame up and dropped it into the open trash can beside the desk before heading out. The slamming of the door caused a crack to grow and split the picture's glass, a jagged scar between the Simon and Rose still life, separating them.


End file.
